It's funny that Lani and I got to watch this movie on the same day within minutes from each other. She in New York and me here in Chicago. Like her, I did love the movie's simple but honest look on musicians, music and friendship. So I just wanted to add to Lani's post Guy Meets Girl.
On Oscar night this year, John Stewart made an unprecedented move and brought back Marketa Irgova, winner of Best Song for Falling Slowly from Once, since her speech was cut off by the orchestra before she could even deliver it. That was the best part, I think, of the Oscars! In fact, she had the best speech among the winners. It's very heartfelt and inspirational.....
“Hi everyone. I just want to thank you so much. This is such a big deal, not only for us, but for all other independent musicians and artists that spend most of their time struggling, and this, the fact that we’re standing here tonight, the fact that we’re able to hold this, it’s just to prove no matter how far out your dreams are, it’s possible. And, you know, fair play to those who dare to dream and don’t give up. And this song was written from a perspective of hope, and hope at the end of the day connects us all, no matter how different we are. And so thank you so much, who helped us along way. Thank you.”
I bought Once without having watched it in the theater; I just had a feeling about this little movie. And it hasn't disappointed. Heartbroken guitar-playing guy meets Czech girl (who happens to play the piano and sings beautifully) in the streets of Dublin, strike up a friendship, maybe fall in love a little and change each other's lives. It was funny because Lynn and I were talking about working musicians and artists just yesterday. The movie made me think about the lives of street musicians, vendors and all the other random people that we meet everyday.
The movie is a musical, and people breaking out into song can be a tricky proposition. But the music is woven so seamlessly into the story, it's almost unobtrusive. The songs tell the tale, moving the story along. It has a folksy, quiet, indie/documentary-like feel to it, with a little bit of BeforeSunrise thrown in. I waited for a huge twist or drama that would ruin it for me, and it mercifully never came. Our hero (played by Glen Hansard---who kinda reminds me of Adam Pascal and Hugh Laurie) and heroine (Marketa Irglova) are friends in real life who before filming, wrote and performed music together. (They've since fallen in love and have been dating.) They made the right choice casting these two non-actors; the film owes its charm and naturalism to its stars. They also wrote the film score and 'Falling Slowly' won this year's Academy Award for Best Song. (A sincerely thankful Glen encouraged the audience to 'make art'. In an Oscar first, the producers graciously let Marketa give her speech after the orchestra played her out. She was so humble and obviously moved.)
If you're like me who wished they can read, write, play music and sing, this film is for you. It's like a love letter to music, film, and love stories :) Grab your copy of this movie. You'll want to see it more than Once.
Dith Pran, the New York Times photojournalist who survived Cambodia's ethnic cleansing campaign, has passed away at the age of 65. He died from pancreatic cancer. His harrowing tale of survival and escape was detailed in the film "The Killing Fields", one of my all-time favorites. As a naive (read:clueless) teenager living a comfortable life in Manila, it was jarring and heartbreaking to learn that 2 million (out of a population of 7 million) people who looked like me and lived not too far away from me were murdered. (of course, the Philippines has had its share of killings, torture, disappearances from the Marcos era until the present.) I can't watch the movie and keep a dry eye. Who could forget this exchange?
Sydney Schanberg: Do you forgive me? Dith Pran: Nothing to forgive Sydney, nothing.
It is unfortunate that Pol Pot died without being held accountable for the genocide. Dith Pran became a goodwill ambassador for the UN High Commisioner for Refugees and founded the Holocaust Awareness Project. May his soul be rested now.
My sister and I first saw her as Amneris on Elton John & Tim Rice's Aida. My eldest sister and her family watched her on Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. She is back on Broadway as Ursula on The Little Mermaid. Check out this interview with Sherie Rene Scott on Broadwayworld. She seems very funny and grounded. For this gifted singer/actress, motherhood and family life obviously come first.
She will be performing in her one-woman show You may now Worship Me at the Eugene o Neill Theater this Monday, 31 March. It is a benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids and the Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative. She will certainly leave a great impression.
Shoshana "When people see me they will scream" Bean at the Gershwin Theatre stage door 31 July 2005 Megan "Look it's Glinda!" Hilty at Wicked Stage door 31 July 2005 Thanks to Lynn for this tip! Californians will have the pleasure and privilege of watching two amazing singers/actresses this weekend, Broadway's former Elphaba and Glinda, on The Meg'an-Sho Show. Megan Hilty and Shoshana Bean also did the Northwest tour of Wicked. Ms. Bean is vocally my favorite Elphie( Julia Murney acting-wise, Pinky). Ms. Ms. Hilty said in this interview that the one night only Meg'an-Sho Show is like Carol Burnett meets Ellen Degeneres. Some days I wish I lived in the West Coast *sigh* Megan will soon be seen in the stage version of the popular film 9 to 5. Watch the crazy talented vocal stylings and riffs of Shoshana in Pinky's posts about the R Cruise. Bring on the Bean!
If you're in the Tri-state area, Broadway Backstage: A Spring Preview is airing this Saturday at 7:30 PM on Channel 7, the NYC ABC affiliate. The half hour special will feature shows like Cry Baby, In the Heights, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Gypsy, Passing Strange, even Patrick Stewart's Macbeth. ABC News anchor Michelle Charlesworth will host with A Catered Affair star Harvey Fierstein.
I received an email from my friend Chelley asking me about Barcelona because she's going there with another friend of mine, Abbi. Helping them plan their trip triggered this post of a video I took back in Oct 2006. It's some random street musicians at the El Born district of Barcelona performing Pachelbel's Canon in D. We were strolling along the area on a Sunday morning....ahhhhh....memories :)
I usually stay until the credits end on animated films, trying to find names of Filipino animators. There are ALWAYS Filipino animators. Now comes Urduja, a full length Tagalog animated movie based on the legend of a 13th century princess from the Philippines. She falls in love with a Chinese pirate named Limhang. Her father Lakanpati wants her to marry local warrior Simakwel instead.
Rosie O'Donnell and her partner Kelli organizes a cruise called R Family Vacations for gay and lesbian families and their friends. This year they sailed to Mexico on March 15, 2008. It has been a tradition of that cruise to have fantastic broadway performers as part of the entertainment. The highlight is a show called Rosie's Broadway Belters performed this time during the first night of the cruise. Check out the video below from Andrew Keenan-Bolger (yes, Celia's brother) who is presently on the Spelling Bee tour as Leaf Coneybear. It has footage of Shoshana Bean (Wicked) and Gavin Creel (Bert in Mary Poppins, West End) supercalifragelistic-ing with Julia Murney! (6:30)
addendum: Julia and Gavin singing What Could Be Better from the musical BABY:
here's Gavin Creel and Shoshana from the piano bar:
Clips of their 70's themed show....with Gavin singing Enough is Enough with Matt Zarly, Julia singing a Linda Rondstadt's Your No Good into When Will I Be Loved and Shoshana singing I Will Survive:
And some backstage banter.....see who you can spot:
On 31 March 2007, Sydney, Australia turned off its lights for an hour to make a statement about climate change and personal responsibility. This year, the event goes global. 29 March at 8 PM is Earth Hour. Turn off your lights, computers, and other appliances. No TV or DVD watching or CD listening. Even better, unplug all electronic equipment. Spend time with your family, grab a book or play boardgames by candlelight. Hunt for recyclables, have an eco-friendly party, clean up your neighborhood. Even Manila is joining 23 other cities (as of last count). New York is unfortunately NOT one of them. Wattup Mayor Bloomberg? Chicago is the US flagship city. (hint, hint to our Windy City pals) Baby steps people, baby steps.
Awesomeness! Buffy/Angel/Firefly genius creator Joss Whedon finished shooting a 3-part internet musical called Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog. The episodes are ten minutes long. He wrote the musical during the WGA strike. Starring Neil Patrick Harris as super-villain Dr. Horrible, it also features Felicia Day as the cute girl from the laundromat that he's too shy to talk to, and Nathan Fillion (creepy priest Caleb from Buffy's final season) as the superhero who keeps beating him up. Life is beautiful.
Sidebar: NPH's How I Met your Mother co-star Alyson "Lily Aldrin" Hannigan turned 34 today! Happy Birthday! You'll always be Willow to me *sniffles* Interesting factoid: Willow mentioned in a Buffy episode that she wrote Doogie Howser, M. D. fanfic as a young girl. The circle is complete.
Carole King's record-breaking 1971 album Tapestry is being re-released on 22 April 2008. Re-titled Tapestry-Legacy Edition, it features a second disc of live piano-voice renditions of the original songs. A whole new generation of listeners will get to enjoy Ms. King's remarkable music.
I highly recommend this book, Making Kind Choices, written by PETA President and co-founder Ingrid Newkirk. It is not a straight read-through but more like a handbook. It offers tips on making changes in our daily lives to avoid harming Mother Earth and our animal friends. This lifestyle can only enrich our lives.
Theatre actors spend most of their time in their second home, the theatre their show is in. It's up to them to make it a "home away from home". So check out this very interesting article from the NY Times about actors and their dressing rooms entitled Setting the Stage, Offstage. There's also an audio slide show here.
Saved is a new off-broadway musical which will be presented at Playwright's Horizons. It's based on the movie with the same title about social and spiritual pressures in a Christian school.....you know the movie with Jena Malone and Mandy Moore. I really liked that movie. Dark humor but very entertaining.
It will play on a limited engagement from May 9 (previews) until June 22. Opening will be June 3. They have just announced the casting for this musical and quoting playbill.com:
As mentioned before Shrek the Musical will be coming in December and has just now finalized casting. As previously announced, Sutton Foster is Princess Fiona and Christopher Sieber as Lord Farquaad. Check out the casting......this is a direct qoute from NY Times:
Brian d’Arcy James will play the title role in “Shrek the Musical,” DreamWorks Theatricals and Neal Street Productions Ltd. announced. The Broadway show, to begin previews in November, will also star Chester Gregory II as Donkey, John Tartaglia as Pinocchio, Sutton Foster as Princess Fiona, Christopher Sieber as Lord Farquaad, and Kecia Lewis-Evans as the Dragon.
Wow, what a great cast! I hope it will be good and not as disappointing as Young Frankenstein.
Nooooooo!!!!! It has just been announced that Curtains, the murder mystery musical at the Hirschfeld Theatre, will play it's last performanceon June 29, 2008. At the time of closing they would have played 511 performances and 26 previews. Didn't they just announce that the whole principal cast extended their contractsuntil the end of August? And the show just celebrated their 1 year anniversary on Feb 27 (previews)? I guess, to use one of the lines of the show.....It's a business.........I'm really sad that it's closing because it's a really enjoyable show and the cast is amazing and seems to enjoy being onstage together. I would love to see it again. Funny that the closing date June 29 is exactly a year after I saw the show!
On a trip to the West Coast this past week, I attempted to watch Margot at the Wedding on the plane. Having enjoyed Noah Baumbach's The Squid and the Whale, I was disappointed with his latest. Margot (Nicole Kidman) goes with her son Claude (with a mop of unfortunate, adolescent hair) to the family country home to attend her estranged sister Pauline's (Mr. Baumbach's wife Jennifer Jason Leigh) wedding to Malcolm (Jack Black). The characters are unlikeable, the pace was plodding so I stopped trying to finish it. I debated whether to watch No Country for Old Men, Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee, or Longford. (I I had seen almost all the other choices, confirming that I have been spending most of my adult life watching movies.) I wisely chose the latter.
The HBO TV movie is about the former member of the House of Lords who embarked on a campaign to get Moors Murderess Myra Hindley paroled. Hindley (a scarily manipulative Samantha Morton) was convicted of raping, torturing and killing children in Manchester in the '60s, along with her lover Ian Brady (an even more chilling Andy Serkis). The Queen's Peter Morgan wrote it. It intersperses actual television clips with movie footage, even David Frost interviewing the controversial human rights campaigner. This movie deserves all the accolades, Emmy/Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations it received.
An almost unrecognizable and outstanding Jim Broadbent, stars as Lord Longford. He was a Labour Cabinet minister and social reformist whose deep religiosity and belief in Christian forgiveness drove him to Ms. Hindley and other prisoners, misfits and outcasts. The film begins with him in a radio station fielding listener phone calls while promoting his book on Catholic saints. The radio show is immediately inundated with calls from irate citizens blasting him for his involvement with the serial killer. The events unfold in flashback format. It is a very moving film and you feel for Lord Longford (later dubbed Lord Wrongford by tabloids) as he struggled with his personal beliefs and public opinion. Even his family is unsupportive, although his wife Elizabeth later comes around to his side. This fine film makes you wonder what you'd do and how far you'd go to stay true to your convictions. I was crying by the time Myra tells him that they'd only just missed the death sentence by a few weeks and they'd probably be all better off if they had been hanged. Longford tells her that only God has the right to take human life, and that if they had been hung, he would never have had the privilege of getting to know her. This film will haunt you.
It's Sutton Foster's birthday today! Check her out Rolling on Ze Hay with Roger Bart from Young Frankenstein.......the best part for me is her yodeling! Lani and I saw it March 9 and we almost missed her! Yes the theatre Gods were good to us that day because apparently she flew out to Troy, MI to attend the opening of Thoroughly Modern Millie (the role that gave her the 2002 Tony's) at her former High School. Check out the video where she meets the cast here.
Our friend Liza gave me this book last year.Daily Advice from the Heart is a fine addition to my collection of books by the Dalai Lama. It stays on my bedside table and is a great way to end the day. Hopefully, Tibetans would heed their spiritual leader's call for restraint and stop the violent protests.
I've posted before about my second bedroom which is now known as......The Broadway Suite.It's a name coined by friends of mine who've stayed over when they visited. Anyway, today there is a new addition to the walls.........a CHESS poster from the 2003 Actors' Fund Concert! Oh, the other poster is from A Streetcar Named Desire with Natasha Richardson. Check it out!
My sister and her husband, my doggie nephew Zack and I went Into the West this past week. The music from Flower Drum Song kept running through my head. This is Yosemite National Park's famed Half Dome from the Sentinel Bridge, shrouded by clouds. The weather kept changing. "In every single minute so much is going on." I did see it when the cloud cover parted, but I wasn't quick enough to take a photograph. Wine-tasting at the V. Sattui Winery in Napa Valley. It is probably the most quaint and picturesque winery in the area. San Francisco, California, U.S.A.! "Over a foggy bay..." "The air is very clean and dry.": Tuolumne Grove in Yosemite. A treat to see snow for our Aussie tour companions. Yosemite Falls. In the park, "every flower and tree is a treat to see." El Capitan in the winter. The park was "a miracle of changing weather". The door of the Winery Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck's bust in Monterey. Pfeiffer Beach, Big Sur Along Route 1, Big Sur Coast Highway A hundred million miracles are happ'ning everyday. Bixby Bridge
I posted about Next to Normalearlier but I'm posting about it again as it closes today at Second Stage. I just want this chance for people to get a listen to this really good music from composer Tom Kitt and lyricist Bryan Yorkey. Amazing voices by the whole cast!
The first song is Just Another Day sung by the whole Goodman family about their typical suburban day (or so you think) at the top of Act 1. The second song is I Miss The Mountains sung by Diana (Alice Ripley) about her life being on mood medications.
Just listening to the music I think you'll figure out why I love this show. So I hope it does have another life after this production at Second Stage....it does have a message that I think people will respond to.
I'm usually a lyric driven person.....it's what usually moves me in a show (well, aside from the performance of the actors).......so there was a question in my last postthat I had a hard time answering. It was "what lyric/line in a musical always brings a lump in your throat". I have quite a few it needed another post! I've added clips so you can get the context but these really get me everytime........
without you hand gropes, the ear hears, the pulse beats without you, the eyes gaze, the leg walk the lungs breathes, the mind churns, the heart yearns, the tears dry without you life goes on but i'm gone cause i die without you (Without You, RENT)
across the sea, glistening with gold i'll take the wind and soar, your almost there, you're out the door, its not too late, a few steps more around the world new worlds await, just flip the latch and through the gate, go through the gate, the garden gate, my mother's gate....... another winter, the renter's go home, the maple goes from crimson to brown oh God my God, another winter in a summer town...... (Around the World Reprise/Another Winter In A Summer Town, Grey Gardens)
give me a day jamie, bring back the lies, hang them back on the wall maybe i'd see how you could be so certain that we have no chance at all jamie is over and where do i turn, covered in scars i did nothing to earn maybe there's somewhere a lesson to learn, but that wouldn't change the fact that wouldn't speed the time, once the foundation's cracked and i'm still hurting (Still Hurting, The Last 5 Years)
maybe tomorrow it comes crashing down maybe next week i'll find another clown maybe i try to go a different way but look who's sitting here today if i could change, if i could grow i'd ask for nothing more and through that door i'd go but if i'm through, why do i stay maybe he wants me, maybe he needs me, maybe he loves me, maybe i like it this way (Maybe I Like It This Way, The Wild Party)
there was a time when you were the person in motion i was your wife it never occured to want more you were my sky, my moon and my stars and my ocean we can never go back to before we can never go back to before!!!!!!!! (Back to Before, Ragtime)
i'll be there on the maple trees i'm a summer breeze on a perfect evening i'll be there when you celebrate when the world seems great i'll be waiting by your side anytime, yes anytime and i am there each morning, i am there each fall well, pretty much this whole song from William Finn's Elegies. The song is Any Time (I am There).
Lani posted her Questions To Ponder, A meme from Steve On Broadway.....Now I guess it's my turn...
1. First musical I ever saw is A Chorus Line, I was 9 and all I remember is a line on the stage with people standing on it. A very vivid memory though.
2. Musical I would most like to see again is Curtains or Xanadu. But to go back in time to see.....Cabaret with Natasha Richardson and Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party with Julia Murney and Brian D' Arcy James. But for a play....it would be The Real Thing with Stephen Dillane and Jennifer Ehle
3. Musical I never want to see again is Phantom or Cats eecckkk!!!
4. Best performance by a woman in a Broadway musical I've ever seen is Christine Ebersole in Grey Gardens
5. Best performance by a man in a Broadway musical I've ever seen is not from a Broadway show but Off-Broadway....Brian D' Arcy James in Next To Normal
6. One person I wish they never casted as Fantine in Les Mis was Daphne Rubin Vega
7. One person they should have cast as Fantinein Les Mis is Julia Murney or One person they should have cast as Ellen in Miss Saigon is Julia Murney
8. Favorite choreography in a Broadway show a 5,6,7,8.....A Chorus Line if we're talking Broadway show. But I was really impressed with Peter Darling's choreography in Billy Elliot in the West End.
9. Lyric/line that always brings a lump to my throat there are so many I could actually start a new post! But let's just say this for now: How do I live now Where would I start Let man's petty nations tear themselves apart My land's only border lie around my heart (fr. finale in Chess Actors' Fund Concert - it gets me everytime!)
10. Stupidest lyric/line: although I love Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party this lyric usually makes me go huh??!! whenever I hear it: I never knew that I could feel this way But suddenly there's something I could share He doesn't want to take me over He only wants to touch my hair (Queenie sings it about Black)
11. First musical I had to go back and see is Les Mis (2 times before the original run ended then got dupped since a revival happened only 3 years after). Most seen is actually Wicked......6 times......3 of those 6 times......Julia Murney was Elphaba :)
12. First musical I ever walked out on has not happened yet
13. Most underpraised and overly deserving show in my opinion is Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party
14. Most overly praised and under deserving show in my opinion is Cats!!!!!!! Oh Spring Awakening too....just didn't get it.
15. Showtune I'm most likely to sing while dancing around at home is Raise the Roof or A Wild Wild Party from Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party. I usually do while cleaning my apartment!
16. If I would recast any role in a current Broadway musical with a performer of the past, it would be Angela Lansbury as Wendla (just kidding!) but I think she'd make a great Madame Morrible
17. If I would recast a current actor in a Broadway musical that was before their time it would be the answer of # 7 in Evita or Chess :)
18. The show they should never change a word because it is already perfect is Grey Gardens and West Side Story
19. Show I'd most like to get my hands on and rewrite is Chess.....just the book....well, not for me to re-write but they should just do the book from The Actors Fund Concert in 2003. I think that worked well.
20. Role I was born to play on Broadway is Millie!!!! Just to get a chance to dance Rob Ashford's choreography in Forget About The Boy......but nah! I'll be happy for just a chance to attempt to dance that as an ensemble :)
It's alive.......and huge!!!! Well, I mean the set of this musical which now plays at the Hilton Theatre. Coming into the theatre, you know exactly where the money you paid for the ticket goes. Lani and I saw it last Sunday matinee.....on her birthday.
This is a straight adaptation of the movie with songs injected to it. But I must say it did have an amazing cast Roger Bart (Dr. Frankenstein), Megan Mullaly (yes, Karen Walker of Will and Grace; she plays Elizabeth), Shuler Hensley (the monster), Andrea Martin (Frau Blucher) and Broadway's "it" girl, Sutton Foster (Inga). The whole cast was great but the show is just not for me. I'm not a Mel Brooks fan except for Space Balls and I actually thought "what's the big deal" when I saw The Producers. The jokes were typical slapstick and I thought some of the numbers were stretched out (I think Lani agrees with me) and in the middle of the show my eyes started to get heavy as if I was going to fall asleep! The only time that happened to me was when I saw Phantom!
Don't get me wrong, it's still an enjoyable show but not amazing.....it was just ok for me. The highlights were Sutton Foster's yodelling and the Puttin' On the Ritz number. I was glad to see a tap number with that song but the ensemble couldn't really show off their detailed tap choreography because the number called for them to wear platform shoes. It was difficult to get taps wearing those shoes! It was also nice to finally see Roger Bart and Megan Mullaly who both had really good voices.
We did stagedoor but most of the principals didn't come out because someone said they had a guest visit backstage. I wonder who that was?
I saw this production last Saturday in NYC amidst the rain and storm of that day. I am still choked up from this show. In fact, I haven't been moved by a production since I saw Grey Gardens last year.
Next to Normalis an off-broadway musical presented by Second Stage Theatre. It's directed by Michael Grief (director of Grey Gardens and RENT) with music by Tom Kitt(High Fidelity) and book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey. It is a musical about a family struggling to cope with Bi-polar disorder which primarily imprisons Diana, the mother, played wonderfully by Alice Ripley. Dan (the father) played heartbreakingly by Brian D'Arcy Jamesis the emotional center. Natalie (Jennifer Damiano) and Gabe (Aaron Tveit) are the teen age children. Diana battles with the highs and lows of depression vs. the numb feeling of being on medication that sometimes works and sometimes not. Dan in turn fights to keep his family afloat and together despite the chaos. He is the constant......the "catcher" when Diana falls.
Not a very light topic and difficult to musicalize. But Tom Kitt's pop/rock music and Brian Yorkey's lyrics works so well with the topic that it evokes feelings of conflict....that of love and anger, frustration and hope, loss and acceptance. There were a lot of counterpoints (where 2 or 3 characters sing the same melody but different lyrics) in the songs.....mom and daughter singing, father and son.......each with different yearnings or sometimes intentions......further giving a juxtaposition of mixed emotions. Combined with the amazing singing and acting from the cast, the show makes the audience really care for the characters. By the second act, I found myself so involved, getting choked up and wiping tears whenever a character is in pain.
The set is a 3 tiered set which also incorporates the band (drums and strings on the 3rd tier, piano on the 2nd) and has moving panels that open and shut that further gives the feeling of being trapped. It's really an amazing set housed in a very intimate theatre making it so effective. I also particularly enjoyed the way the book was structured. That the story was layered and piece by piece it was peeled revealing more about each character. It kept me really engaged.
That night, the whole cast was perfect vocally but I believe special mention should be given to Brian D'Arcy James because whenever he started singing I would literally get goosebumps. He was just so heart breaking. I hope a CD would be made because the score is really wonderful. Try to catch it if you can.....they extended only a week and last performance is this Sunday but hopefully this show will somehow find it's way to Broadway.
Oh....Broadway celebrity sighting at the show....Matt Cavenaugh (Grey Gardens and A Catered Affair), Jenny Powers (Grease) and Michael Grief!!!
Mike pointed this video out to me. It's from the Bulgarian reality show Music Idol their version of American Idol. I just can't stop laughing after seeing it!!! It's hilarious! Maybe you guys can figure out what "tulibu dibu douchoo" really means ha ha ha! I'm still bent over in stitches!
Last night, I had the great pleasure of watching my niece in an original high school production, Acid in Wonderland. Based on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, it is a cautionary tale on the use of psychoactive drugs. The playwright, director and star was a Junior, ably supported by a talented and energetic cast. (The tea party scene alone was worth the price of admission---a well-spent $5!) It was hard to believe these were high school students. They all managed to keep me entertained but at the same time, retaining a sense of unease and doom. I was completely transported to Alice's drug-addled brain. There has been much speculation (though unsubstantiated) that Lewis Carroll had used mind-altering substances. Acid is a creative, intense yet funny re imagining of Alice's fantastical and disqueting misadventures. One hopes that youngsters will hear its strong anti-drug message loud and clear. As the playbill says, "Drugs don't make people cool; People make drugs cool".
They will be performing at the annual Connecticut Drama Association Festival on the 14th and 15th of March at Ellington High School. The CDA is one of the oldest state secondary school theatre organizations in the U.S.
Kristin Chenoweth will be performing on 12 April at a fundraiser for Alveolar Capillary Dysplasia. The benefit, entitled "Kristin Chenoweth, This One's Personal: A Concert to Stop ACD," will be at the Helen Mills Event Space on West 26th St. To purchase tickets or to make a donation to the 3 Angels Memorial Fund, click here.
I saw New York Times reporter and author Jennifer 8. Lee last night on The Colbert Report promoting her book, The Fortune Cookie Chronicles. She said there are more Chinese restaurants in the U. S. than McDonald's, Burger King and KFC combined. I believe that. You can find yourself in the smallest town in America or any city in the world, and us rice eaters are always able to satisfy that craving. Thanks to some enterprising Chinese folk. It's also true that American Chinese food is different from the real thing; even Philippine Chinese food is different. (I'd love to hear Pinky's or Jon's take on Chinese cuisine after their recent trips. When Lynn and I were in Singapore, our culinary experiences were less than satisfactory.)
So if you're itching to know why Jews eat Chinese food on Christmas Day, or who the real General Tso was, pick up the book. Impress your co-workers and friends with some trivia next time you get take-out. I for one, would like to know how everytime I place an order, the restaurant always says the food will be ready in 10 minutes. And it is.
The season finale of Project Runwaywas broadcasted this evening. Although I don't work in the fashion industry, I have to agree with Tim Gunn that this season's finalists, Jillian Lewis, Rami Kashou and Christian Siriano, were the most talented finalists since Project Runway history 4 years ago. Anyone of them could have won and I would be totally happy with the decision (although I was secretly rooting for Jillian). It was difficult watching it because everytime a designer showed their collection I would go.....Oh Jillian might win......Rami might win....Christian might win. I liked Jillian's collection for its accessibilty, feminine yet very chic style. I was impressed with Rami's woven techniques specially on the corseted gown. Christian I liked for the cohesion and drama of his collection. See it was really difficult. There were no dramas in these last few episodes unlike the previous years and in the end.......the phenom won! Congratulations Christian you are indeed Fierce!
Found this meme on possibly the best theatre blog out there, Steve on Broadway/SOB :) I can't believe I only found his blog this week.
1. First musical I ever saw was Sweeney Todd. Traumatized at ten years old by the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. 2. Musical I would most like to see again is Nine and Patti Lupone's Evita. Well, I've never even seen either of them. I'd also love to see Elaine Stritch's Joanne in Company. 3. Musical I never want to see again is Dracula and Cats. I actually dozed off in Dracula. 4. Best performance by a woman in a Broadway musical: Christine Ebersole in Grey Gardens. 5. Best performance by a man in a Broadway musical: Nathan Lane in The Producers. Couldn't stand the movie but onstage he was brilliant. 6. One person I wish they never cast: Rue McClanahan as Madame Morrible in Wicked. I love my Blanche Devereaux but she wasn't even singing. 7. One person they should have cast: Mary Testa as Ursula in The Little Mermaid. 8. Favorite choreography: I know so little about dance and pay not much heed to choreography, so forgive my ignorance, it would have to be Chicago. 9. Lyric/line that always brings a lump to my throat: "The very words that they had sung became their last communion. On a lonely barricade at dawn. Oh my friends my friends forgive me. That I live and you are gone. Empty chairs at empty tables, where my friends will meet/sing no more." 10. Stupidest lyric/line is: Anything from Cats' MungoJerrie and Rumpleteazer, Rum Tum Tugger. 11. First musical I had to go back and see more than once: Les Miserables, 4 times. It's in a three way tie with Wicked and Rent. 12. First musical I ever walked out on was: None yet. It will probably never happen. 13. Most underpraised and overly deserving show in my opinion is Taboo. It was very original and nothing like I'd ever seen at the time. I was bewildered, outraged but ultimately moved by these freakshow characters. 14. Most overly praised and under deserving show in my opinion is Spring Awakening. I just don't get it. 15. Showtune I'm most likely to sing while dancing around at home is: I don't normally dance around at home, but probably the joyous La Vie Boheme from Rent. 16. If I would recast any role in a current Broadway musical with a performer of the past: How about Lainie Kazan as Melpomene in Xanadu? Not too far from the past. 17. If I would recast a current actor in a Broadway musical that was before their time it would be Jane Krakowski in Funny Girl. 18. The show they should never change a word because it is already perfect is Fiddler on the Roof, followed by West Side Story. 19. Show I'd most like to get my hands on and rewrite is: I could never presume to rewrite a show. I'm completely talentless. 20. Role I was born to play on Broadway is: I have horrible stage fright. Maybe Bloody Mary from South Pacific ;)
Only a few more days left to see Off-Broadway productions for only $20, twenty minutes before showtime. 20@20, Off-Broadway's answer to Restaurant Week kicked off last 25 February and will run until this Sunday 09 March. Participating shows include Stomp, Forbidden Broadway, Naked Boys Singing! (which Jon and I saw a couple of years back when it was still in Chelsea. It was probably one of the most hilarious yet uncomfortable hour and fifteen minutes I ever spent in a theatre.) and Altar Boyz (I saw this with Mike, Tom and Kipp pre-Stage Notes days. Pinky and Jon saw it in Chicago. Read Jon's earlier post here.)
Off-Broadway's truly the place to see The-Next-Big-Thing...mwahaha! Get it? Anyone? Umm...hmm...*squirms then runs away*.
John Doyle, Tony award winner for Sweeney Todd, is hosting and directing TheLadies who sing Sondheim on 07 April 2008. It is a benefit performance in honor of The Acting Company's 35th anniversary.
Now, doesn't that video make you want to take tap lessons? I did! It's from Never Gonna Dance (which I loved!) a musical version of the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers movie Swing Time. It starred Noah Racey and Nancy Lemenager.
Noah Raceyis currently one of the best dancers on Broadway and has been considered the heir to Fred Astaire's style of dancing. He has also worn a lot of hats.....as the choreographer of White Christmas and Director/Choreographer of Town Hall's All Singing All Dancing concert last summer in NYC. He currenly plays Bobby Pepperin Curtains where he dances up a storm however, it's unfortunate that he doesn't get to tap in that show because that's where he shines. He is entralling when he dances. So light footed that he makes it seem effortless.
Tonight he's back at Town Hall (which incidentally he is also the resident choreographer of the Broadway By The Year Series) for Broadway Musicals of 1947. I wish I was in NYC.
Thanks to my aunt who gave me a National Geographic subscription when I was young, I've always dreamed of throwing off all material and personal attachments, and leading an ascetic life in an ashram in India, or in the Himalayas, drinking yak's milk. The open road has always beckoned me. Of course, given my lack of survival skills, I'll just have to content myself with road trips and watching movies about these soul-searchers.
Into the Wild is based on Jon Kraukauer's non-fiction book about Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch), who after graduating from college, leaves everything behind to live off the land in Alaska. I saw him as an angry, self-absorbed, naive (no map or compass!) and selfish young man. It was cruel of him to renounce his parents and sister. You think he would have abandoned his quest if he paid attention to the life lessons from the people he met on the road...the always excellent Catherine Keener and her hippie partner played by a wonderful non-actor, Brian Dierker, Vince Vaughn as a brotherly South Dakota farmer, the Danish couple predisposed to nudity, and finally, the amazing Hal Holbrook who made me laugh and weep. (I was upset at our protagonist for making Hal's character climb the mountain. I was screaming, 'don't get a heart attack!'---but I kept it all inside.)
Chris's heartbroken parents were played by William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden; I cried again when Mr. Hurt collapsed on their driveway. In a departure from the book, a history of abuse was inserted into the screenplay written by Sean Penn, who also directed the film. This part was unnecessary as Chris probably didn't need any other excuse to reject his privileged life other than his youthful idealism.
For me, the main star of the film was North America's wide open spaces. Eddie Veder provided music to complement the cinematography. The Motorcycle Diaries' Eric Gautier beautifully filmed blue skies, the canyons, deserts, rivers and lakes of the southwest; Middle America's amber waves of grain; even seedy Los Angeles, and of course, the Alaskan wilderness. I've seen how achingly beautiful Alaska is and can understand how one can obsess over it. Our hero said that happiness is not to be found in human relationships; happiness is in nature and all around us. Unfortunately, he underestimated Mother Nature. His ultimate realization: 'happiness real only when shared'.
The DVD is coming out 04 March. If you've ever thought of opting out of our consumerist society or just hitting the road, watch this film. I wish that at some point in your life, you get a chance to satisfy your wanderlust or whatever brings you joy. And have people to share it with.
Lost is a total mind f--k...and it's awesome! Last week's episode made my head spin but that tearjerker of an ending reuniting Desmond and Penny was sooo worth it. If you want to make your head hurt, read this theory courtesy of Lynn.
